How Much Does a Direct Mail Postcard Campaign Cost

It is a common question that we get every day – how much does a direct mail postcard campaign cost? There are a handful of variables that can change the answer dramatically. We will go over those options and give a generic price to help you understand more the cost of typical projects.

Postcard Size

The first variable that will change your pricing is the size. The smaller the postcard, the lower your price will be due to the amount that can be printed on one sheet. The most common sizes of postcards we see are 4″ x 6″, 5.5″ x 8.5, or 6″ x 11″. When you are choosing what size you would like to send out, think about what the goal of your campaign is. Also, you will want to plan a size that is adequate enough to fit your message or messages without becoming overbearing. Will you have just a quick announcement or 1 main feature you would like to talk about, then you can stick with a smaller size. Planning on highlighting a handful of new products or services? We would suggest using a larger size.

Quantity of Postcards

The second variable that will have an affect on your projects cost is how many will you send. The less amount of cards you plan to deliver the lower your total cost will be due to having to use less supplies. However, the more you send the less PER PIECE you will pay. Say you are looking at printing 250 postcard versus 1000 postcards. 250 will have a lower total cost than 1000 but the 1000 order will have a lower per piece cost than 250.

250 = $25 ($0.10 per piece)

1000 = $75 ($0.075 per piece)

Stock, Color, Finishes

Lastly, there are a handful of minor variables, that are mostly personal preference that will have a small affect on the pricing. They are the paper stock, color options, and special finishes. At Seattle Mailing we use either 100# cover, 14pt or 16pt cardstock for our postcard printing. One paper stock to another will only change the cost around $15 – $50. When it comes to color, you have the options of full color both sides, color on one side with black ink on the second side, or black ink on both sides. Again this option is more of what you like as it won’t change the pricing that much. Lastly you can choose between different finishes which include UV coating or a matte dull like finish.

Sample Printing Pricing

14pt Full Color

1000

25000

5000

4.25 x 6 Postcard

$36

$78

$116

5.5 x 8.5 Postcard

$96

$156

$220

6 x 11 Postcard

$133

$218

$357

Mailing Services

No matter which size of postcard you select the mailing services will be the same. For the quantities listed above this will be roughly $130. If you have your own list that you would like to use, the data processing costs will be roughly $120. If you need duplicates pulled out or other special data services this will increase the data price. We process and presort your mailing list for optimal postage savings. If you are buying a mailing list from Seattle Mailing then that price will change depending on what kind of list, and which demographics you will use.

Postage

Postage is another hard cost, that wont change on the 3 sizes listed above or on how many you send out (as long as it’s more than 200). Presorted standard mail rates will be between $0.221 – $0.304 per piece if using your own mailing list or purchasing a mailing list with demographics. If you are planning on a saturation mailing, then your postage will be $0.157 – $0.215 per piece.